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by remanth



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: M/M, bagginshield, post-LOTR
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2017-10-26
Packaged: 2019-01-23 16:00:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12511016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remanth/pseuds/remanth
Summary: Bilbo meets Thorin again after a very long time





	Home

The Elven lands over the sea were beautiful. Though Bilbo couldn’t see them as clearly as he once might, and his joints ached if he even breathed wrong, he could still see their beauty. Lord Elrond was kind, letting him and Frodo come with them to the Elven lands. Ringbearers didn’t belong in the lands they’d left behind. They’d become too peculiar, too fey, too otherworldly. A magic ring that allowed its wearer to disappear? It would be treated as a particularly vivid ale dream in the Shire and laughed away.  
But here, the very air was fey and otherworldly. He and Frodo weren’t out of place because this was the kind of land Ringbearers belonged to. As they crossed over the water and came to rest at a beautifully-built dock, Bilbo took the first comfortable deep breath he’d taken since before he’d picked up the ring in a dark cave. Next to him, Frodo echoed the deep breath, a smile tugging at his lips. Footsteps behind them heralded Lord Elrond, who put a hand on each of their shoulders.

“Welcome, my friends,” Elrond said quietly. He smiled down at both of them. “Welcome home.”

A small group of elves sat near the dock playing a lovely melody. Another group waited at the head of the dock, smiles wreathing their faces. The hand on Bilbo’s shoulder raised in a glad wave as Elrond spotted some of his kin. Galadriel was the first one off the boat, Gandalf handing her off with an elegant gesture. She turned back for a moment, looking towards the horizon and the lands they had just left. And then she turned and walked into the waiting arms of those waiting her.

A few months after they settled into their new home, Bilbo was taking a slow walk in the garden outside the house he shared with Frodo. He couldn’t go far these days, not like he could even a couple years ago. Off in the distance, he could see Galadriel, Elrond, and Gandalf walking through a rose arbor. They conversed quietly yet all three waved when they caught sight of him. Bilbo waved back, feeling a twinge in his chest as he did so. As the trio turned away, a yawn tugged at Bilbo’s jaw. He looked up at the sun and saw that it was about time for his daily nap.

Murmuring to himself as he headed inside, Bilbo looked around for Frodo for a moment before he remembered that his nephew was off reading in the forest. Songbirds sang outside his open window as Bilbo settled himself in his bed with a groan. No more wandering about dark forests or running away from marauding dragons for him anymore, oh no. Bilbo chuckled then yawned again. He wiggled himself into a more comfortable position, memories of past adventures running through his mind. Then, his eyes closed and he was asleep.

Some time later, Bilbo opened his eyes to a curious sight. Fili and Kili were staring down at him, a gleeful grin on Kili’s face and a satisfied smirk on Fili’s. Bilbo’s heart clutched on seeing them. Oh, they looked so _young_. Could any of them ever have been that young? It felt like a lifetime since the last time he’d seen them. Truly, it had been a lifetime since the last time he’d seen them.

“You’re finally here,” Fili said, stepping back as Bilbo sat up. “It’s about time.”

“It’s been so long, it’s good to see you, Mr. Boggins,” Kili said, as he had once so long ago, and bowed. His grin was still firmly in place, inviting Bilbo to share in the joke. Then he turned to Fili. “Better go on ahead. Let him know he’s come.”

Fili nodded and left. Bilbo looked around himself and found that he was lying on a grassy hummock. The impossibly blue sky above him was dotted with fluffy white clouds. Here and there, a daisy grew in the emerald grass. Everything felt so bright and vivid. So much more _real_ than what he remembered. And then he realized that all the aches and pains were gone. He looked down at his hands, shocked to find smooth skin where once it had been wrinkled and gnarled.

“Come on, up you get, Mr. Baggins,” Kili said, taking one of his hands and hauling him to his feet. 

“Where am I?” Bilbo asked, once again surprised at his voice. It was stronger, no longer ragged with age. “What’s going on? This is a dream. I’m dreaming, aren’t I?”

“I’m afraid not,” Kili shook his head. “But it’s not all bad. You’ll see.”

Without another word, Kili walked off in the same direction Fili had gone. Bilbo had no choice but to follow, still trying to wrap his head around everything that was going on. He’d taken his usual nap, hadn’t he? Surely this was all a dream, right? There was no way he could be seeing Kili and Fili. They had died, all those years ago. He’d seen them, laid out on biers once the battle was over. He’d seen _him_ laid out on a bier, the Arkenstone resting between his fingers. The King under the Mountain. His heart clutched again and he rubbed his chest. It was a lifetime ago, the last time he’d seen…

“Thorin,” Bilbo gasped as he caught sight of the dwarf standing with Fili under a spreading oak tree.

Kili turned back to grin at him again and hurried ahead. He spoke to Thorin for a moment, their dark heads close together. Then he and Fili walked away. Once they were out of sight, Thorin turned to Bilbo and waited. Bilbo stood frozen for several long moments after, his eyes skipping here and there. Almost afraid to rest on Thorin in case he disappeared. Tears pricked at Bilbo’s eyes when he remembered again Thorin resting cold and pale on a bier in the halls of his home. The home Bilbo had helped him finally reclaim. The tears flowed down his cheeks when he saw that the oak tree Thorin stood under was the exact same one as stood in his garden in Bag End. The oak tree that Bilbo had often sat under while stars twinkled overhead and talked to the ghost of a man who’d left him far too soon.

“Well, Master Burglar, you’ve come at last. Seems you have a light step even when it comes to death itself,” Thorin said, finally breaking the silence between them. His face was stern for a moment longer then broke into a relieved smile. His arms spread in welcome. “Long and long and long has it been since last I laid eyes on you.”

Bilbo laughed through his tears and walked willingly into the waiting arms. He hugged Thorin hard, heedless of the tears wetting his tunic. All that mattered was that this was real, that Thorin was warm and vital and bright, right in front of him.

“I never thought to see you again,” Bilbo managed. “It has been so long Thorin. I watched you die. It broke my heart to see you die in my arms.”

“Here, all hurts are mended,” Thorin said, wiping the tears from Bilbo’s cheeks. “Here, you are home, my burglar.”

Bilbo nodded and took Thorin’s hands in his. They stood under the oak tree, the tree that had bound them, life and death, dwarf and hobbit, two halves of the same love. The sun set and stars twinkled overhead. And Bilbo finally was home and he was content. When Thorin started walking, Bilbo followed him without question, their hands still linked. He looked forward, eager to see where their time would take them.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Bagginshield fic so I don't think I quite have their voices down. It was fun to write though and I'm glad I finally got on this train, late as I might be. :)


End file.
